As Congress breaks, Staten Island's Grimm points to local accomplishments

View full sizeRep. Michael Grimm is shown at a ceremony renaming the St. George Post Office for the late Marine Sergeant Angel Mendez.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- As Congress starts a five-week vacation amid complaints from some
quarters that members failed to pass significant legislation, GOP Rep. Michael
Grimm pointed to passage of bi-partisan measures he sponsored within the
last six months with local implications.

Congress broke for the recess Thursday, with the Bush-era tax
cut fight still looming and the battle royale for the White House
already under way.

Grimm noted his full-throated support for Port Authority bridge toll relief for truckers using the New York Container Terminal, as well as a break for smaller commercial users -- and his continued call for release of the PA's economic impact study.

Along those lines, Grimm (Staten Island/Brooklyn) has said he feels confident he'll get the OK from House GOP leadership to hold hearings this fall regarding P.A. "oversight and transparency."

Grimm legislation includes the just-passed bill to safeguard current toll discounts; passage of a bill to permit construction and operation of a natural gas pipeline in the Brooklyn portion of Gateway National Recreation Area; as well as modifications to Dodd-Frank derivative stipulations with the Business Risk, Mitigation and Price Stabilization Act.

Grimm's Veterans Dog Training Therapy Act passed, too, along with the National Blue Alert Act, which he co-sponsored, that's been in the hopper a while.

Two Grimm-authored law enforcement amendments also passed, with no increase in spending: $18 million for the Department of Justice's Regional Information Sharing System, off-set by a same-amount funding reduction for climate research; and $126 million for Community Oriented Policing Services, off-set by a same-amount reduction in NASA programming.

And he continued to join House GOP members in voting to repeal "Obamacare."

Locally, he opposed Bloomberg administration efforts to open a waste-to-energy station at the former Fresh Kills landfill.

Also, he's continued his "Grimm Goes to Work" initiative, joining Island postal employees and ferry workers on the job this spring.

Said Grimm: "When we return, the tax battle will continue. We're reaching a fiscal cliff between the tax hikes that will go into effect and the looming debt ceiling. Doing nothing is not an option. It will only drive our economy into further uncertainty and put more jobs at risk."

On Wednesday, Grimm joined the House majority in voting for a full extension of Bush-era tax cuts.

The Senate and the president want to end the cuts for individuals earning more than $200,000 and couples making $250,000 or more.

Now that he's home for a bit, Grimm said he's looking forward to meeting with constituents, according to his spokeswoman, Carol Danko.